READER NOTICE: Fundraiser Update
To everyone who contributed: you guys are livesavers in the most literal sense of the word. If you wish to help, make your contribution by donating directly to Tumen’s Ko-Fi. That’s https://ko-fi.com/iggytfs.
This is a follow-up post. Read the first public announcement to get the full picture.
Update from Ben
Hello everyone! This is Ben, here to take a bit of time to give an update on Tumen’s situation, and be as transparent as possible with what’s going on. Tumen and his wife are relatively safe and sound, and Tumen has set up a temporary residence in Georgia (the country ☺) at the moment. His wife is due to join him in a couple of weeks after a detour elsewhere for a temporary opportunity to earn some money and replenish their savings. Tumen meanwhile has resumed normal Fight Site-related activities as you might have already noticed since there’s been an uptick in content production.
First and foremost, we want to thank our patrons, whose generosity allowed us to get Tumen out of Russia in the first place. Thank you all.
We’d also like to thank everyone for their generous donations in our recent fundraising drive. The outpouring of support from so many people was something we can’t thank you all enough for.
Through everyone’s generosity, we raised exactly $4,311.00.
Here is the breakdown of the expenses for the attorney and filing fees to process Tumen’s application.
The attorney fee due up front is $3,250.00. This is the retainer and begins our process of putting together Tumen’s case for a visa. This process can take as little as a month, or up to three or more months — it’s not something we can control. At the end of this process, the second half the attorney fees are due, another $3,250.00.
After that, there will be the official filing fees. The exact total for those would be $2,960.00.
By the end of this process, the total needed to apply for Tumen’s work visa would be $9,460.00.
We wanted to be as up front as possible with you about where the money is going, and what we still need to continue working on this.
This is Tumen’s current balance.
In order to complete Tumen’s application, we will need to raise another $5,149.00. We understand that is a lot of money, and we’re doing everything we can to raise money in other ways to put towards this balance, but we have to ask for help once again.
Description of Step #2 on Tumen’s Ko-Fi.
We understand this is a lot, we do. A simple share or retweet is all we can really ask of any of you. If you’re able to donate, please do. Even the smallest contributions are felt: if 100 people band together and donate ten dollars, then it means we already have 1000 in the fund. We’ve been able to raise an incredible amount in an extremely short timespan, and this has given us a lot of hope with regards to the success of this endeavour.
As a reminder, you can make your contribution by donating directly to Tumen’s Ko-Fi. That’s https://ko-fi.com/iggytfs.
Statement from Tumen
I honestly don’t know what else to say other than thank you. We’re blown away by the sheer amount of support that came our way, and for the first time in more than half a year, we have a plan. We know exactly what we need to do, there are clear steps towards our goal, and finding a new home seems more possible than ever. The evaluation process is very likely going to take quite a bit of time, and under normal circumstances it would have seemed intimidating and arduous. But in comparison to the sheer confusion and hardship of the past six months during which we kept hopping from country to country — burning a giant hole through whatever savings we were able to scrounge up — it’s an absolutely massive improvement.
It all seems deceptively simple: build a rock-solid case for our visa petition and submit it. However, immigration institutions being what they are, I’m fully expecting to run into ever more problems to solve, but for the past six months every time something came up, we were able to face those problems head-on and pull through. It would have been impossible without the support of my incredible colleagues, beloved patrons and all the amazing people that offered their help. There’s a long road ahead of us, but it almost feels like our new home is just about to show its silhouette on the horizon. All we need is a good shove, and the winds will take us there.
Thank you.